After Lin Tang's reminder, Shen Youling suddenly rembered she had almost forgotten such an important matter. If the killer wasn't found, wouldn't she face similar dangers in the future?
"Who could the killer be?" Shen Youling had wanted to discuss it with Lin Tang, but he had already hung up. Frustrated, she huffed a few tis and forced herself to ponder it alone.
It shouldn't be so powerful expert… After all, an expert could have just killed Dad with a single stab. There was no need to go to the trouble of using radioactive materials for poison. It was almost certainly an ordinary person!
Shen Youling closed her eyes, various recent events flashing through her mind. Since becoming a Cultivator, her mory, insight, and all other faculties had greatly improved. Soon, she recalled her mother, Dong Mingfeng; her sister, Shen Jiayue; and her so-called brother-in-law, Lu Zizheng… When they learned Lin Tang was comatose and couldn't treat her father, their panicked reactions had seed very off!
Could it be...? Shen Youling's eyes flew open, her pupils trembling in shock.
「Noon. In the private room of a restaurant.」
"Master Zheng, you've arrived. Please, take the head seat. Jiayue, quick, pour so tea!"
"Master Zheng, here's your tea!"
"Ah, yes. Thank you…"
"Youling, didn't you say Lin Tang would be coming too? Why don't I see him?"
"Oh, he had so urgent business to take care of, so we decided not to wait."
"Urgent business? What kind of business could an unemployed bum like him have?"
"Hm?"
"Ahaha, Mom misspoke again, let's not talk about him… Waiter, let's order!"
Zheng Sanjie kept his eyes down and his mouth shut, saying very little. He was now even more certain that the Shen Family had no idea of Lin Tang's true identity. Although he couldn't quite understand why Lin Tang was hiding it, or what sort of perverse pleasure he got from it, he didn't dare expose the truth on his own initiative. As a result, he even continued to play along with the charade of being Shen Xin's lifesaver.
Once the food and drinks were on the table, everyone began to eat amidst the usual pleasantries.
"By the way, why isn't my brother-in-law here either?" Shen Youling suddenly asked.
"Well, about that—" Dong Mingfeng and Shen Jiayue's expressions once again beca unnatural as they mumbled an evasive answer.
Seeing this, Shen Youling sighed quietly and filled her glass. "Master Zheng, I'll raise another glass to you!"
With that, she downed the drink in one go.
After the al, Zheng Sanjie dutifully returned to his hotel, waiting to see if Lin Tang would summon him again.
Shen Youling had a driver take Dong Mingfeng and Shen Jiayue back to the hospital.
"So, Youling, now that we've made up, could we possibly stay at your place? I hear you're living in a big villa with plenty of rooms. It must be too quiet all by yourself. A few more people would liven things up, hehe…" Dong Mingfeng rubbed her hands together, smiling sheepishly.
Shen Jiayue also nodded eagerly, looking hopefully at her now-successful sister. She didn't want to live in their cramped, dirty temporary rental anymore, and she felt safer by Shen Youling's side. She had barely slept for days, terrified she'd be silenced in her sleep.
"Of course you can," Shen Youling said readily. "I'll have so extra keys made for you."
"That's wonderful! I knew you were the most filial, Youling!" Dong Mingfeng was overjoyed.
Shen Jiayue also grinned from ear to ear.
But then Shen Youling added, "I'm going to file a police report later to find out who poisoned Dad. This matter can't just be dropped."
"Ah?" Dong Mingfeng's expression froze as if doused with ice water.
"Mom, what's wrong?"
"N-nothing! Ahem, I agree. We must catch the murderer and bring him to justice!"
"Sister, what do you think?"
"I…" Catching Dong Mingfeng's murderous glare, Shen Jiayue flinched. "Of course, I agree with filing a report."
She didn't dare say what she knew…
When they reached the hospital room, Shen Xin was naturally awake. Although he had fully recovered and could theoretically eat anything and be discharged imdiately, he decided to stay for observation just to be safe. He had his vitals checked periodically and ate only easily digestible liquid foods.
"Youling, you're here? Sigh, Dad really had a narrow escape this ti. I almost didn't get to see you again!" Shen Xin said, his voice filled with emotion and lingering fear.
"Don't worry, Dad. I'll find the person who hard you and make them pay the price they deserve," Shen Youling said, sitting beside him and squeezing his hand.
"Oh?" Shen Xin looked surprised, his gaze sweeping over to Dong Mingfeng.
Dong Mingfeng kept her head down, peeling a piece of fruit. Her knuckles were white as she gripped the knife, and she didn't dare et Shen Xin's eyes.
"My dear daughter, maybe… maybe we should just let it go? It's better to avoid trouble, and I'm fine now, after all…"
"Bullshit!" Shen Qiushi stord over, looking like he wanted to slap him. "You spineless coward! Soone tried to poison you, and you're still cowering?"
Shen Xin fell silent, giving a bitter smile, at a complete loss for words.
The atmosphere in the room grew subtly heavy and awkward.
"And what about Master Zheng? A man with his abilities is soone we must build a good relationship with!" Shen Xin said, awkwardly changing the subject. "That way, if anything happens in the future, we can ask him to save us again."
He still vaguely rembered his soul leaving his body and then being stuffed back in by Lin Tang through his backside. But the mories were fragnted, leading him to subconsciously dismiss them as bizarre hallucinations brought on by his near-death experience. They couldn't be real.
Lin Tang… how could he possibly see souls? He wasn't so kind of charlatan!
Shen Youling said nonchalantly, "Master Zheng won't be staying in Jiangbei for long. Besides, reclusive experts like him are often capricious. It's best not to disturb him, lest you cause trouble."
"I see. Alright then…" Shen Xin, Dong Mingfeng, and the others all nodded.
In the past, Shen Youling had been an invisible presence in the family, with no voice and constantly being negated or yelled at. Now… she was the core of the family, her word law.
After she left, Shen Qiushi also departed with a grim face, leaving Shen Xin with the other two. They stared blankly at each other.
"Lu Zizheng, he…" Shen Xin began to ask.
Dong Mingfeng clutched her stomach. "Oof, I'm not feeling well. I need to step out for a mont." She scurried away.
Shen Xin looked at Shen Jiayue.
Panicked, Shen Jiayue also dashed out. "Mom, wait for ! I don't think you brought any tissues…"
Shen Xin's mouth hung open. He stood there stunned for a long mont before suddenly giving himself a fierce slap. "How have I lived such a pathetic life?"
「Nightti.」
Shen Jiayue was silently packing her things, preparing to move into the mansion the next day. A drunken Dong Mingfeng, reeking of alcohol, stumbled in. Seeing the bags, she curled her lip in disdain.
"Why are you bothering with all this junk? Youling's villa has everything."
Shen Jiayue paused. "Yeah… you're right," she mumbled.
She didn't actually want to pack, but the more she sat around doing nothing, the more her heart pounded with anxiety.
Dong Mingfeng was too lazy to even wash up. She just plopped down on the hard bed, ready to sleep.
"Mom, there's sothing I want to ask…" Shen Jiayue's lips trembled. She was clinging to the faint hope that she had been wrong, that the real killers weren't her mother and her husband.
"Shut up!"
Dong Mingfeng shot up as if electrocuted, yanking her daughter close until their noses were touching and their eyes were inches apart. Dong Mingfeng trembled all over, panting heavily. "Don't ask anything, and don't say anything! Do you hear ? I said, do you hear !?" she hissed, like a cornered beast.
Shen Jiayue nearly gagged on her mother's foul breath. Her eyes stung as if from onions, and tears stread down her face. Her last sliver of hope was shattered.
Suddenly, the door was pounded on heavily, followed by the sound of a key scraping in the lock. Startled, Dong Mingfeng instinctively moved to slide the bolt, but she was a step too late.
Lu Zizheng, his fat jiggling, burst in from outside. "Mom! Mom, tell , is Shen Youling really going to the police? Is she going to see this through to the end? What do we do now? Tell what I should do!"
"What do we do? I… I… I don't know what you're talking about!" Dong Mingfeng, infected by his panic, first grew flustered and then blurted out the denial.
"What do you an you don't know? Dong Mingfeng, what are you trying to pull?!" Lu Zizheng's eyes instantly turned red.
"Lu Zizheng, how dare you! I'm your mother-in-law! How dare you use my full na? What kind of attitude is that?" Dong Mingfeng blustered, her voice betraying her fear.
"Mother-in-law my ass! We did that thing together! Are you pretending to be confused now to wash your hands of it? Dream on!" Lu Zizheng shrieked.
"Nonsense! It was your idea! You bought the stuff and put it in the teacup! It has nothing to do with !"
"Fine, fine, fine! So you want to play dumb, do you? If I'm going down, I'm taking you two with !"
Though sober, Lu Zizheng flew into a drunken rage. He lunged at Dong Mingfeng, intending to pin her down along with Shen Jiayue.
Wait! I haven't said a single word! Why is he dragging into this? Help!
"Lu Zizheng, you animal, what do you think you're doing? Are you rebelling? Not even that good-for-nothing Lin Tang ever treated like this! You actually— AHHH!"
Dong Mingfeng's furious curses turned into screams of agony as he began to beat her. Her shrieks were as loud as a pig being slaughtered, echoing through the entire building. Worried he would attract attention, Lu Zizheng grew even more frantic and desperate. Deciding to go all in, he clamped his hands around her neck to stop her from screaming.
"Die! Die, die, die!"
Quickly, Dong Mingfeng's face turned bright red, then a dark, purplish black. Her legs kicked wildly, her fingernails scratching bloody trails into Lu Zizheng's thick flesh. But he seed to feel no pain, only tightening his grip.
In the past, Shen Jiayue wasn't afraid of him in the slightest. They fought often, and she always had the upper hand—a veritable lioness. But now, watching her own mother being strangled to death, she was frozen with terror, too scared to even try to push him away.
In her eyes, Lu Zizheng was like a rabid dog. What could a timid little kitten like her do but tremble?
"Help… …" Dong Mingfeng was frothing at the mouth, flecks of blood mixed in with the white foam. Her eyes bulged like a demon's as she stared fixedly at Shen Jiayue.
"I don't know anything! It's not my fault!" Shen Jiayue was like an ostrich with its head in the sand, cowering in the corner with her hands over her head.
Dong Mingfeng was filled with bitter regret. As death closed in, she thought, If only I'd known, I would have struck first.
Just then, there was a sound. SHLICK!
A hard object plunged deep into flesh, and a spray of fresh blood erupted.
Lu Zizheng's entire body shuddered. He slowly looked down and saw a long steel pipe protruding from his chest. Blood continued to gush from its hollow opening, drenching Dong Mingfeng.
URK... URK...
His strength drained away completely, and his grip on Dong Mingfeng slackened. As he fell to the ground, he struggled to turn his head.
He saw Shen Youling standing there, her face expressionless.
You…
Lu Zizheng could never have imagined that his ek little sister-in-law—the one he had lusted after and even tried to act on, only to fail—would one day beco the executioner who would personally end his life.
She… when had she beco so ruthless???
After a few seconds of dazed confusion, Lu Zizheng died on the spot.
"AH!" Only then did Shen Jiayue let out a piercing scream.
Dong Mingfeng gasped for breath, then leaned over the bed and vomited repeatedly until only bitter bile ca up.
"Youling, you… you killed soone?"
Shen Youling stated calmly, "I already found out. The beast who poisoned Dad was Lu Zizheng. It's only right to avenge one's father."
Dong Mingfeng was speechless.
Shen Jiayue was speechless.
Although they had long noticed a great change in Shen Youling's personality, it was at this mont that they most profoundly understood just how different she had beco.
"Now that the true killer has paid for his cris, let's never speak of the past again. Mom, Sis, co ho with now. Dad and Grandpa have already moved in."
Shen Youling said softly, "From now on, our family will live in harmony. No more fighting and arguing, okay?"
"...Yes! Yes! Of course!"
"No more fighting. I swear, I'll never argue again…"
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